The Wizard Of Oz (Ford Star Jubilee broadcast version)
On the Saturday evening of November 3, 1956, the final episode of the award-winning CBS anthology series Ford Star Jubilee was not a 90-minute live color spectacular show, and it was expanded to a full two hours to accommodate the debut of MGM's 1939 family classic theatrical Technicolor film, The Wizard Of Oz. This was not a special television adaptation of the movie, but a telecast of the uncut, complete, and full-length theatrical film that was packaged as a special event, uninterrupted by 12 minutes of Ford commercials and station breaks. The film was broadcast in its entirety in one evening, rather than being split into two edited one-hour episode versions shown a week apart so it could be shown in a ninety-minute time slot. Ironically, on September 24, 1955, the very first broadcast of Ford Star Jubilee, was the debut Judy Garland's first TV special "The Judy Garland Show." Both sponsor and network went all-out to showcase Judy’s most fondly-remembered film as a matching bookend to its very first presentation, and they did this in a manner that actually benefitted the home viewer. The Ford Star Jubilee ad in TV Guide highlighted The Wizard Of Oz's cross-generational magic, playing up both Oz's long pedigree and its family appeal, and tied the television showing to both the books—"In 1900 L. Frank Baum wrote his fantasy for children, The Wizard Of Oz, and it proved so popular that he wrote a whole series of Oz books"—and the "original performance in which Judy Garland enchanted millions." This positioned the film as a prestige product of "classic entertainment for the entire family", a gift from Ford to the American people, and CBS paid MGM a then-staggering fee of $225,000 for the rights to the showing of a "motion picture classic." The Wizard Of Oz was shown in a surprisingly late time slot, beginning at 9 p.m. and concluding at 11 p.m., which was well past the bedtime of the average youngster, most of whom would be well tucked in before Dorothy started down the yellow brick road. As a prologue to the feature, there was a brief live segment that proceeded the showing, and the on-camera hosts were Bert Lahr, who had played the roles of both the cowardly lion and his Kansas farmhand counterpart Zeke in the film, Judy Garland's 10-year-old daughter Liza Minnelli, and 13-year-old Oz expert and book collector Justin G. Schiller. The trio provided comedic patter and information about the creation of the film, the history of the Oz books, and some insight into the life and career of the story's author L. Frank Baum. Schiller, who was imported to the studio to display his personal copy of a first edition of the book, had loaned it to CBS for Lahr to read to Minnelli on air. This marked the first and only time that one of the film's actual actors, who played a leading role in the film, as well as one of the offspring of an actor who had appeared in the movie, the child of the film's star, had hosted it. Lorna Luft, Liza Minnelli's four-year-old half-sister, did not appear on the telecast, although she did have her picture taken with Minnelli in a promotional photo. Not only was Ford Star Jubilee's presentation of The Wizard Of Oz a family event, it also provided the older generation with the means of passing down this iconic American experience to the younger generation. Prologue transcript CBS narrator: From New York – in color and black-and-white! FORD STAR JUBLIEE presents a motion picture classic, THE WIZARD OF OZ, starring Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Bert Lahr, Ray Bolger, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton, Charley Grapewin, and the munchkins. Now we’ve told you that tonight on FORD STAR JUBILEE, we’re presenting a classic, and we mean that only in the most popular sense of the word. For not only as a main feature film, but as a masterpiece of literature which has fascinated children and adults for years, THE WIZARD OF OZ ranks with the great works of all times. We believe most of you sitting with your families tonight will find a special pleasure in being acquainted with a story, characters, and familiar music which has timeless appeal. Now, as a special treat, we want you to meet one of the stars of THE WIZARD OF OZ, Mr. Bert Lahr…with “friend.” Bert: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I’m indeed happy to be with you, and I’d like you to meet Judy Garland’s daughter, Liza. Liza: How do you do? Bert: I’m sure Judy would have loved being with us tonight, but as you all know, she’s appearing at The Palace Theatre in New York in her wonderful, wonderful show. One of her big hits is “Somewhere, Over The Rainbow.” Uh…uh, Liza, you know that’s the song your mother made very, very famous in the picture. Liza: You’re in the picture, too, aren’t you, Mr. Lahr? Bert: Am I in the picture? I certainly am! And it was certainly wonderful working with your mother and all those wonderful people. Liza: What part did you play? Bert: Well, at one part in the picture, I was going to eat your mommy up. But I couldn’t, you see. I was the cowardly lion. Liza: What was Mommy like then? Bert: Well, in those days, she was just a little older than you are now – but just as pretty. And, you know, Liza, while we were making the picture, every one of us felt as though we were living in the wonderful land of Oz. And I don’t think your mommy was very happy when she had to leave us and go to school. And we had a little doggie, Toto. Oh, he was very cute. You know, my little children loved him, too. You know, John and Jane saw the picture eight times, but I’m very sorry to say I only saw it once, and that was at the premiere – seventeen years ago. Liza: I sure am looking forward to seeing it tonight, aren’t you? Bert: Well, I’m very happy to see it. Now, when you see – when you look at the picture, Liza – you will notice that when your mommy, who plays Dorothy in the picture, is in Kansas, all the scenes are in black and white. But when she opens her eyes in the wonderful land of Oz, everything is in beautiful color – just like a fairyland should be. Liza: I can hardly wait! Bert: Either can I! Liza: [ giggles]. Cast of characters Bert Lahr as Zeke / the cowardly lion / himself Liza Minnelli as herself Justin G. Schiller as himself The following cast members never made an actual on-screen appearance, only through previously used archive footage: Judy Garland as Dorothy Gale Frank Morgan as Professor Chester Marvel / the gatekeeper / the carriage driver / the guard / the wizard of Oz Ray Bolger as Hunk Andrews / the scarecrow Jack Haley as Hickory Twicker / the tin man Billie Burke as Glinda the good witch of the north Margaret Hamilton as Miss Almira Gulch / Gulcheria the wicked witch of the west Clara Blandick as Aunt Emily Gale Charley Grapewin as Uncle Henry Gale Pat Walshe as Nikko the head flying monkey Terry as Toto the Singer midgets as the munchkins Jerry Maren as the green-clad lollipop guild munchkin Meinhardt Raabe as the munchkin coroner Mitchell Lewis as the winkie guard captain Adriana Caselotti as the voice of Juliet in the tin man's song "If I Only Had A Heart"Category:TV Shows Category:The Wizard Of Oz